By Lancs
United Kingdom
How can I get rid of an ants nest in my allotment compost bin?
- 26 Jul, 2012
Answers
Your compost is too dry and undisturbed which is ideal for ants to set up home, pour water on it and turn it over.
26 Jul, 2012
Agree with Drc. My compost heap got compacted and dry. It had a big ants nest in the middle of it. I eventually stirred myself to free it up a lot by digging it out, and getting rid of the compaction. Not as hard as I thought. I put a lot of it on the garden under shrubs and the blackbirds thought they were in heaven....tasty morsels galore. Then I read of a compost aerator on questions. Got one from Amazon.....easy for a very mature lady to use....and the ants won't be undisturbed now.
27 Jul, 2012
I water my compost heaps quite often and they still get ants. You can leave them because they do some useful work in and around the garden. You can put ant powder in the heap and they will find it as you add more debris to cover it up thereby reducing them. Or you could leave them and spread the nest on the garden in the winter when they are less active and let the birds clean up for you. This is a practice I use on my allotment and it does control them somewhat.
27 Jul, 2012
Sadly I haven't a clue, but in today's Sun (28th) Peter Seebrook gives an answer to this one on page 46. Hope this helps.
28 Jul, 2012
I'm not sure you need to, they will do their thing and also help biodegrade the compost too. I wouldn't worry too much.
26 Jul, 2012